Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus that includes a main image capturing system and a sub image capturing system.
Description of the Related Art
One proposed image capturing apparatus, such as a video camera and a digital camera, includes a sub image capturing system in addition to a main image capturing system configured to acquire a usual image.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. (“JP”) 2012-49651 discloses an image capturing apparatus that includes a main image capturing system that includes a zoom lens, and a sub image capturing system that includes a fixed focal length lens of a wide angle of view. This image capturing apparatus enables a moving object to be easily followed, because the sub image capturing system acquires an image with an angle of view wider than that of the main image capturing system. JP 2012-49651 discloses an acquisition of information of an object distance using the image acquired by the main image capturing system and the image acquired by the sub image capturing system.
JP 2013-61560 discloses an image capturing apparatus that includes a main image capturing system that has a zoom lens, and a sub image capturing system as a plurality of stereo cameras having focal lengths that are different from one another. This image capturing apparatus acquires object distance information based on parallax information obtained by the stereo cameras, and provides an autofocus (“AF”) control over the main image capturing system using the object distance information.
For a small image capturing apparatus with a high zoom ratio, a so-called retractable lens barrel is known which is retracted into a body of an image capturing apparatus in a non-image-capturing state and extended from the body in the image capturing state. The retractable lens barrel is applicable to the zoom lens of the main image capturing system in each of the image capturing apparatuses disclosed in JPs 2012-49651 and 2013-61560.
However, when the retractable lens barrel of the main image capturing system is close to a lens in the sub image capturing system, the angle of view of the sub image capturing system is shielded by the extended lens barrel. A shield of the angle of view of the sub image capturing system by the lens barrel can be prevented by increasing the distance between the lens in the sub image capturing system and the lens barrel of the main image capturing system, but this configuration causes the image capturing apparatus to become large.
In addition, the image capturing apparatus disclosed in JP 2013-61560 includes the sub image capturing system having an angle of view close to that at the telephoto end of the main image capturing system, and the sub image capturing system is significantly distant from the main image capturing system. Therefore, in capturing a short-distance object, an angle-of-view range that can be commonly captured by the main and sub image capturing systems reduces and an object distance range becomes narrow from which the object distance information can be acquired. This problem becomes remarkable as a zoom ratio of the zoom lens in the main image capturing system becomes wider.
Each of JPs 2012-49651 and 2013-61560 does not consider a disposition condition of the sub image capturing system when the retractable lens barrel is used for the main image capturing system.